“Good. Maybe we can share a bottle or two of some of my best tequila. If I can get you back out here to L.A., mi amigo, maybe I’ll arrange for some sexy ladies, like we used to do. I remember that time with me and you and those four se?oritas from Cozumel. Those were the days, huh?” He laughed loudly.
I glanced at Chippy, happy that I didn’t have this on speakerphone. “I’ve gotten a little too old for that, Alejandro, but thank you for the offer. These days, I’m just a ‘community’ sort of guy who enjoys time with his family. I don’t really travel much anymore outside of New York. Like how you don’t leave the West Coast, eh?”
“You got me there. I guess at the end of the day, we’re both just kings captive in our own little castles.”
“Good way of putting it,” I commented, thinking of the world beyond my castle walls that awaited me and Chippy down in Florida. “We’ll talk further once we take delivery from your men.”
“We most certainly will. Best wishes to your family, my friend,” Alejandro stated, presumably with other thoughts kept to himself for another time.
“Yours also,” I replied, then disconnected the call.
“Do you trust Alejandro?” Chippy asked.
“Have I ever, sweetheart?” I answered. “You know how it is. Same as it’s always been. Every man for himself, or in this case, every family.”
“Except the competition has never been this fierce. There’s no loyalty in business, and you’re not the sexy young man I fell in love with.”
I chuckled at her latter comment. “There was somebody before me, and there will be somebody after me. Alejandro can say whatever he wants. He has plans to take over our territory. He’s just using this as a way to get his foot in the door. That’s why I’ve been readying Orlando.”
“But Orlando’s not you. He’s his own man. He’s going to want to do things his own way.”
“And he’ll have that freedom. But if he plans on making wholesale changes ... too much, too soon, he’ll have to answer to me. A lot of people, beyond our immediate family, depend on what we’ve established here, sweetheart. This isn’t just a business.”
“I know, baby,” Chippy stated as I stood up to give her a hug. “But to say I would mind having you all to myself would be a lie.”
Our embrace was cut short by Paris, coming to inform me of a call from Harris.
“Sorry to bother you, LC,” Harris said when I answered. “But did you take care of London’s problem?”
“No. I never heard from her,” I replied. “But I’ve been on the phone with Alejandro in L.A. Maybe she spoke with Junior.”
“No, I called him first. He never heard from her either. Shit.”
“Is something wrong? What was she supposed to talk to me about?”
“Oh ... nothing major. She had a flat tire and I had a meeting, so I couldn’t get to her in time. I told her to call for someone over there to come out.”
Just as I became concerned, I heard the familiar laughter of my granddaughter coming from the showroom floor.
“Was Mariah with her, Harris?”
“Yes. Why?”
“They’re here. No need to worry anymore,” I assured him.
“Good,” he said with a deep sigh over the phone. “Just have her call me later.”
London came down the hall, walking past the window to my office. She looked unfazed to my eye, which made me feel better. As the door cracked open, Mariah stormed in ahead of her.
“I see you, Grandpa!” Mariah shrieked, full of youthful innocence and glee. She ran behind my desk and jumped into my outstretched arms. As I hugged her, I reflected on how grateful I was that London had provided me with such a lovely and caring grandchild, my only one. In stepping down from her responsibilities around here and marrying Harris, London had given me an even greater gift than her mere talents.
“Is everything okay? I just got off the phone with Harris,” I said to London.
“Oh. Yeah. Everything’s fine. I had a flat—my front tire. I have the spare on now. One of your men is going to put on a new tire,” my daughter answered as she embraced her mother.
“Mommy had two guys help her. But the stinky, dirty one left,” Mariah said, smiling at me with a fresh missing baby tooth evident.